Unnatural
by Not An Infant
Summary: A mere snack to hold you guys over while I finish my latest one-shot. Dedicated to The King Of Pop in the weirdest way.


**Title: Unnatural**

**Author: Not An Infant**

**Rating: K+**

**Summary: I'm guessing, "Woman in The Airport." I KNOW it was in the first season, about a certain body in Los Angeles that couldn't be identified because the victim had done massive facial reconstruction. I remember the conversation between Zach and Angela that got to me because of a certain woman's example.**

**This voices my opinions about MJ as well, so if you don't like it, blame me. It's my opinion pushed through Addy's words. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: YES! I got Zach, too! I'm the MAN/WOMAN (not telling!) Now I get to learn about…AP* forensic anthropology! [Note: if anyone out there reads these disclaimers and takes them seriously, I suggest you pay a visit to Sweets before I capture him, too.]**

"She had to have been beautiful," Zach insisted to Angela. "Why would someone alter themselves like that and now be beautiful?"

"Do the names, 'Michael Jackson,' and 'Joan Rivers' mean anything to you?" she replied, not looking up from her clipboard.

"Mr. Jackson is not ugly, Angela," said Zach. Ange looked up and the change in his voice. It had gotten deeper and more solemn.

"Uh, sweetie," she said, raising her eyebrows, "Michael has some serious issues. Not only did he let those surgeons destroy his delicious face, but he never sued the bastards for what they did to him."

Zach's eyebrows formed a near uni brow. "That is all based on your perspective, Angela. For all we know, he is smiling at his reflection like Narcissus right now."

"Oh my _god, _Zach, do you ever watch the news?"

"If by _your _news, you mean _gossip, _then no, I haven't," Zach said curtly. "From what I understand on _my _news, Jackson chose to have those surgeries. What does your news say?"

Angela's mouth dropped; this was most unlike the regularly meek grad student.

"Michael has said in interviews _after _his facial mass-destruction that he still doesn't like to look in the mirror. He has a self-hatred so pronounced, it is UNATURAL, Zach!" She couldn't resist adding (though later on she wished she could have) "Of course, you would all about being unnatural, wouldn't you?"

_Oh, shit. I did NOT just go there. _

Zach's face flushed a bright pink. His eyes-was it a trick of the light? -seemed to water.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" Ange began.

Zach raised his hand to silence her. "Let me make something clear to _you, _Miss Montenegro."

The authority and bitterness in his voice made Ange's stomach queasy.

"There are only a handful of people in the world like you who see people like me as unnatural because of their mental capacity and their inability to communicate with humans in the way society has taught us is NORMAL. It is that handful of people who have created the mass media assumption that everybody has to be perfect according to THEM. When Michael Jackson was entering the normal stages of male puberty, the media turned away because they only wanted to see the little boy they grew up with. He has proven to be extremely sensitive, physical, emotionally, and mentally. Therefore, I expect the ordeal to have cut him deeply. I assume you already know from _your _news that Michael had an abusive father."

He didn't give her time to answer. Judging by Angela's shocked expression, she probably could not get a word out of her mouth.

"I take that as a yes. According to half the siblings, the father put down their appearance, including Michael's nose and skin. Coming from the same people genetically responsible for your physical structure, I can only imagine how traumatic that must be."

"Are you a closet Michael fan?" she came out with, hoping to stop him before her mind burst from disbelief.

"No." _Liar. _"I am simply aware of things. Like my own experience with people who want me to be a certain thing, even though I can't be. I speak differently, I see things differently, and I act differently. Physically, emotionally, I am just like them. But they only see what they want to see. For some humans, they can handle it. For others, they can lose themselves in the act. For more, the buildup up pressure leads to a final break. That is why Jackson is now hiding away from the hypocrisy and Cruelty of the world."

Angela never knew that Zach felt shunned for his differences. She had made it a point to defend him in all areas, and she NEVER voiced her opinions on how she really thought of his antics.

"I see how you look at me sometimes," he continued, as if reading her mind. "You're just as confused as the rest of them. Let me simplify myself; on the subject of Michael Jackson being beautiful, that is not for YOU or for ME to decide. That initiative rests with him alone. I could tell you that you are pretty as you are, but until you feel beautiful, you will never believe me, no matter how many times I tell you. That is the beauty of surgery. It gives you a chance to live your life thinking that YOU are beautiful, regardless of whether or not the world approves. That is Jackson. Jackson may not feel beautiful now, but he _tried _to take matters into his own hands. If he feels even a little better about his face, then I, Zach Addy, believe that yes, he is beautiful."

Zach was nearly out of breath, the pinkness subsiding. But he still had one more thing to say.

"If that is not on your news, then I suggest you are the one who is unnatural. You and your horrible mass media."

He turned on his heel and stalked off, leaving Angela to stare after him with a cold empty chill in her chest.

It was only when he turned the corner into the empty hallway that he let a solitary tear fall to the floor.

**A/N: Halfway through, I realized that the only way to keep Zach from sounding like a naïve fan was to add that component of empathy. I think that Zach is shunned a little for his differences. Even though the squints joke about it (and now I'm calling them squints, too---damn you booth!) I'm sure it gets to him on a personal level, and when he goes home to nothing and no one, he cries himself to sleep.**

**I know. Deep, right? But Zach should have had a more emotional side to him before he suddenly decided to follow the Lord of the Bad Dentures. Review, please.**


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